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It Took me Two Weeks to Really Learn These Three Words
For those of you who follow the blog, you might have seen a recent post where I talked about my progress in learning Portuguese. The video in that post shows me talking with my friend Rodolfo about a...
View ArticleLearning a Language for the First Time
I grew up in a bilingual, bicultural home. My mother is American and my father is Colombian. I lived in Colombia, went to an American school, attended a Colombian church and by all accounts,...
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Figuring Out Where to Go Next
Last month, I went on a two-week long vacation to Brazil that was simply fantastic (I’ll probably be writing about aspects of that trip for a while!). And the trip served as a good “capstone” for the...
View ArticlePicking it Back Up
If you’ve ever studied Arabic then you and I may share a similar story. Let’s see how well they line up: I took Arabic for six semesters in university. Modern Standard, of course. My first semesters...
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Learning French from Scratch: The Very First Step
It’s beginning. I’m about to kick off my next linguistic adventure: learning French. I’ve started from scratch before; there was, after all, a point in my life when I spoke no Spanish and no...
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How To Get Started Learning Russian
So, you’re ready to make the leap. Maybe you’ve been paying attention to the news and see that Russia is becoming more and more important. (I contend that it has always been important, even after the...
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Learning Journal: French, Week 2
This week has been a really slow one in terms of learning French. I’ve been busy. I’ve been lazy. I’ve had a lot of excuses. But at the end of the day, I think I’m being forced to take a bit of my own...
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Why International Friendships Matter
Like many of you, constant wanderlust and curiosity course through my veins. I studied abroad in Asia twice, traipsed about through Europe, lived in Spain for a year, and am now back in Iowa working...
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What Even Is Pinyin?
Before I started learning Chinese in earnest I would sometimes turn the Chinese keyboard on on my phone. By default it opens up a small square divided into nine parts, which is meant for drawing...
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Here’s the Game Plan, Folks
I’ve kind of fallen behind on Arabic. There. I said it. In month one, I was extremely excited and motivated. My days were filled with Arabic music, Arabic podcasts, Arabic TV show s, and oh-so-much...
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Getting the Most out of Language Exchanges
I love language exchanges. Without a doubt, they are my favored language learning tool and I use them as a core part of both learning new words and in maintaining “dormant” vocabulary in my head. The...
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The Five Most Essential Tools I Use For Language Learning
I just spoke with a friend who is getting started learning Portuguese. She’s super excited and is really motivated, but doesn’t know exactly what to do beyond Duolingo. Don’t get me wrong, Duolingo is...
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Top Secrets for Learning Spanish: The 4-and-a-Half Essentials
Learning a new language is hard, isn’t it? So when you’re starting your quest to be a fluent Spanish speaker, you might face some challenges. There are plenty of fun and effective methods to help you...
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Last-Minute Language “Cramming” Before a Trip
As part of a crazy, crazy December, I just got back from back-to-back trips to Brazil and Cuba(!!!). The trip to Brazil was for work, and it was going to entail me using Portuguese to teach some of my...
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